News & Events

Referencing the 250th anniversary of the United States in 2026, this conference will focus on the roles of Ireland and Northern Ireland and their peoples in the making of America. It will put into conversation different histories and frameworks of study of Irish and Ulster/Northern Irish diasporas. It will also raise consideration of the salience of Irish American and Scots Irish communities and identities in contemporary America and their relations with Ireland today.

“Harvey’s bountiful book zeros in on scenes of ‘the hunt’ and ‘the stakeout’ to argue that passing is of utmost concern for black life. The chords that Harvey strums in this formidable book about racial passing are both familiar and unusual. Harvey’s book is essential reading for anyone concerned with surveillance and passing in the wake of chattel slavery.”—Tiffany Lethabo King, of The Black Shoals: Offshore Formations of Black and Native Studies

The British Library now welcomes applications from academics of postgraduate standing currently employed at universities or HEIs in the UK and interested in joint supervision of Collaborative Doctoral Landscape Award studentships beginning in October 2027. Including one based in the Eccles Institute for the Americas and Oceania entitled, 'Collecting the Taboo: Library Practice and the J. B. Rund Collection', focusing on an extensive collection of American printed material and ephemera.

James J. Barney’s new book reassesses David Dinkins’s historic mayoralty and the multiracial coalition that elected New York City’s first African American mayor. Drawing on archival research, A Fragile Alliance examines the challenges of governing a divided city amid racial conflict, economic recession, rising crime, the AIDS epidemic, and political backlash.

Join us for the British Library's American Writers’ Week (28 September – 2 October), presented in association with Festival America, Vincennes, France. Participating writers include Alison Bechdel, Armistead Maupin, Daniel Kraus, Jeanine Cummins, Joyce Carol Oates, Katie Kitamura, Rabih Alameddine and Viet Thanh Nguyen. Each event for American Writer's Week or book two or more in person events to get 25% off.

James J. Barney’s new book reassesses David Dinkins’s historic mayoralty and the multiracial coalition that elected New York City’s first African American mayor. Drawing on archival research, A Fragile Alliance examines the challenges of governing a divided city amid racial conflict, economic recession, rising crime, the AIDS epidemic, and political backlash.